Writing screenplays makes me a better musician because it clears my head. After writing a movie, I go running back to music as fast as I can.

I have to be able to see the thing that's going on that I'm writing about, or else it just doesn't make any sense to me.

My music has to do with beauty, and it's intended to, if not lift the spirits, then be a kind of a balm to the spirits.

And I kissed away a thousand tears My lady of the Various Sorrows Some begged, some borrowed, some stolen Some kept safe for tomorrow.

I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them.

Everyone wants to feel that they matter.

Guns are part of the American psyche, aren't they? This is collateral damage for having a Wild West mentality. It's intrinsic to the American psyche. It's never going to change.